


Phantom Pains

by constantconfusion14



Series: The Sibling I Never Wanted but am Glad to Have [1]
Category: Carmen Sandiego (Cartoon 2019)
Genre: Angst, Carmen and Player's sibling-esque friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Not beta read we die like the guy who invented the segway, Tad bit of whump, VILE really went for the low blow on this one, enemies au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-14 19:02:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29051094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/constantconfusion14/pseuds/constantconfusion14
Summary: Four months after Player seemingly disappears from the face of the planet, Carmen comes face to face with a new VILE operative. Confronted by the youngest thief to ever graduate from the academy, Carmen is forced to fight the one person she'd vowed to always protect.Enemies au one-shot!
Relationships: Player & Carmen Sandiego | Black Sheep
Series: The Sibling I Never Wanted but am Glad to Have [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2131320
Comments: 29
Kudos: 119
Collections: Completed stories I've read





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am eternally indebted to this show for breaking me out of my writer's block. Never have I seen a main character with so little involvement in the series. Don't get me wrong, I love everything about this show, I just wish there had been some more drama between Carmen and Player ('cause what fun are found-family troupes without angst?).
> 
> Anyway, I'm a sucker for an enemy au anyway, but this popped into my mind and I aggressively wrote this fic in a matter of days. Just so you know, I'm operating under the assumption that Player's parents travel a lot and aren't around very often. It just makes it easier for things to go...wrong (if ya know what I mean). 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

6 days. Carmen made it 6 days without contact from Player before she really lost it. 

There had been no warning. No ‘hey, I’ll be gone for a little while but don’t worry’. Not even an emergency alert if something _had_ gone wrong. Although Carmen had never visited her best friend’s house (for his own safety) she knew he was prepared in the case of an attack. He’d told her in detail about the hidden cameras, booby traps and everything in between. She’d laughed and called him the kid from _Home Alone_. He’d laughed back at her for not knowing Kevin’s name. 

There was no explanation. At least, no good explanation for what might have happened. Carmen couldn’t stop running scenarios through her head as she boarded the flight to Ontario. The others had urged her to wait a little longer to avoid any overreactions, which she understood but disagreed with strongly. After 48 hours, she’d been ready to leave to find him. She certainly wasn’t feeling any better after 144. Even if it wasn't a ‘worse case scenario’ and he hadn’t been kidnapped or...worse, there were a million other bad possibilities. Lost in the Canadian wilderness, in a coma from getting hit by a car, trapped in a cave-in with no resources and no way out. There were a million possibilities and Carmen thought about each and every one. 

By now, the others were sharing her concern. After a week of silence, it was clear that something was wrong. Shadowsan had stayed back at the HQ in the event Player had to flee his home and showed up there. Having known the teenager the longest, Carmen, Ivy and Zack headed northward. 

**************

The house that sat at his address was dark. At first glimpse, nothing was out of the ordinary. There were no cars in the driveway, no lights on inside and no signs of life whatsoever. 

“So this is where Player lives, huh?” Zack spoke aloud, shivering in the crisp, Canadian air as he looked around. The houses were greatly spaced apart, not cramped together like he was used to seeing in Boston or San Diego. Carmen didn’t waste more time in checking her surroundings than she needed to. As soon as she deemed the area clear of threats, she jogged up to the front door step. After ringing the doorbell and waiting all of 8 seconds, she broke out her lock picking tools. 

“Woah, Carm. You didn’t even give them time to open the door.” Ivy’s voice held apprehension, but her presence right behind Carmen spoke the truth about just how badly she, too, wanted to get inside. 

“No one’s home, Ivy. And I’ve waited enough already.” Within seconds the lock clicked happily and she pocketed the tools again. “I need to find Player.” She pushed the door open without a second thought, helping herself into their missing friend’s home. 

Just as it looked from the outside, everything was dark inside. There was a stagnant smell to the house, making it easy to tell no one had been here in a while. In fact, it almost appeared as if no one had ever lived here. The living room was impossibly tidy, the decorative pillows not holding so much as a single wrinkle from usage. A decent layer of dust covered all surfaces, both horizontal and vertical. Save for the single pair of small shoes near the door and the single bowl and spoon by the sink, the house looked move-in ready. 

“Player!” Zack’s voice suddenly filled the empty rooms, startling Carmen greatly. His sister soon followed suit, calling out for their hacker as well. There was no response. 

Spotting a staircase further down the hallway, Carmen sprinted towards it. She jumped up the steps, taking them two at a time until she reached the long hallway of the second level. Immediately, she began checking bedrooms. The first must’ve been the master’s judging by the size, but again, everything seemed untouched. There was nothing there for her. The second room was even more boring than the first. It had to have been some kind of guest bedroom. The third and final bedroom was…

Immaculately clean. Carmen’s breath caught as she took in the sight. There was no expected teenage messiness, no open textbooks, no ruffled sheets or dirty clothes. More importantly, there were no electronics. A large table on the other side of a bookshelf sat completely empty. Carmen slowly walked over to it, dragging her fingers across the faint rectangles in the cheap varnish. Clearly, this had been where Player had set up his multiple monitors. Underneath the table were three different power-strips, all with nothing plugged into them. What must’ve been Player’s ‘dark little cave’ was now clean beyond all belief. Much, much too clean. 

“Oh god…” Ivy muttered out, clamping her hand over her mouth as she walked into the room. Even without his lights on, they’d always been able to see the slight mess of the room in video calls with Player. This? This was wrong. 

“Where’s Player?” Zack asked behind the two of them, immediately dropping down to his knees to check under the bed. From the sad sigh that followed, she assumed he found nothing. 

Carmen’s lungs refused to work properly as she looked over the room and noticed a small, white hat sitting on a dresser. Her hand shook (with fear or wrath, she didn’t know) as she walked over and picked it up. Someone had taken a green marker and scratched a jagged “V” into the front of it. Carmen exhaled shakily, allowing tears to drip from the corners of her eyes down the sides of her face as she showed it to Zack and Ivy. “They took him.”

But she was going to get him back. 

**************

Four months. 

Four agonizing months and not a single lead. Carmen was trying to keep pushing forward but things were starting to seem futile. It felt like she’d scoured the entire world, searching desperately for any hole VILE might hide away in, but there was nothing. Nothing in plain sight, nothing on any tropical island, nothing, nothing, _nothing._

A few days after they’d visited Player’s house (and cleaned up any evidence of VILE’s presence), Carmen had met his parents. She’d stayed in the area for a week or two, waiting and praying that Player might somehow find his way back home. Instead, the only life that returned to his house were his nearly-absent parents. Carmen had walked up to them, introducing herself as a friend and asking if they knew where their son was. All they did was smile back at her. 

_“We didn’t know Austin had any friends, honestly. It’s nice to meet you!”_

_“Turns out, he got into an amazing study abroad program in Europe. The school called us, raving about his test scores and insisting that he head over there immediately for the winter semester. I always knew his genius would take him far!”_

_“Austin himself called us to say goodbye. He mentioned something about disconnecting from technology and connecting more with the world around him. It’s gonna be tough, but we’re proud of him. We’ll see him once he comes back at the end of the semester.”_

Carmen had walked away from them without uttering another word. Any parent that could be so dismissive of their child’s whereabouts didn’t deserve the title of ‘guardian’. When Carmen finally found Player, she might just take him back to San Diego with her. There, he’d be surrounded by true family. There, she could protect him to make sure this never happened again. 

As soon as she’d returned to their HQ, Carmen had thrown herself into her work. She touched base with every known contact, pursued every avenue and listened to every whisper she could get her hands on. Nothing. Four months and nothing useful came about. Carmen was nearly at the end of her rope. Right as she began accepting the hopelessness of her efforts, she caught wind of a potential VILE heist going down in California. Immediately, Carmen began planning a counter-caper, though there wasn’t much information to go on. 

The nearby city of El Cajon, California was putting on its annual “America On Main Street” to celebrate it's identity as a ‘mini-United Nations’. As it turned out, 30% of the city’s population were immigrants from Iraq, Somalia, Syria, Turkey, and other countries. El Cajon had a history rich with gold during the California Gold Rush, but eventually settled down to be a farming community for many decades. Only in recent years had they begun to celebrate their diversity with the very celebration that seemed to be somehow connected to VILE’s next caper. With what she remembered from her official training, Carmen was able to intercept some chatter on the darknet, though details were sparse. Despite the Gold Rush being over, it seemed as though VILE was planning on using the ongoing celebration as a distraction to rob some of the remaining treasures the city still displayed. They really must’ve been scraping the bottom of the barrel. 

But honestly, so was she. If there was even a chance at intercepting another operative and learning information about where Player might’ve been, Carmen had to take it. She would never forgive herself if she didn’t. After a deep, reassuring sigh, she pushed herself to her feet and stretched her hands out. It was time to get to work. 

*************

Carmen had always known how valuable Player was to their team. He was their eyes and ears when they were blind and deaf. He was the magic password or key card that allowed them access to places they’d never step foot in. He was their finance manager, their travel agent, their support system. Player was their secret weapon and Carmen was learning the hard way just how hard it was to function without him there. 

Without him scanning the VILE hard drive for intel, Team Red had no idea where _exactly_ VILE planned on striking. This time, they couldn’t steal something before it was stolen by others. This time, they’d have to be reactive rather than proactive. It was not something Carmen preferred, but it was all she could do. Shadowsan was staking out the nearby heritage museum together. Her former instructor much preferred to slink in the shadows, far from bright flashy lights and twirling rides of death. Ivy, still lacking Carmen’s years of experience, had joined him in surveilling the museum. Being the most populated area, Carmen had taken the actual fairgrounds in case anyone showed up there. Zack was on the coms for this mission, watching from a nearby hotel window that overlooked most everything. A car parked outside the hotel would act as their emergency get-away if it came to that. All of them had brought their A game. Tonight, there was no room for error. 

Hours passed and there was no suspicious activity. The museum remained quiet and the celebration went off without a hitch. Typically, they would’ve considered it a victory. Maybe VILE had given up. Maybe they’d seen the red coat patrolling and finally decided it wasn’t worth the trouble. Any one of those would’ve been nice on a normal caper, but nothing about this was normal. Not when they were a man down and _needed_ an operative to interrogate. Carmen began turning frantic as the number of park guests began to slowly dwindle. Maybe this hadn’t ever really been a target. Maybe her intel had been wrong. 

Player’s intel was never wrong. 

As the moon rose, Carmen’s hopes began to fall. The fairgrounds cleared out and shut down, leaving her leaning against a cold metal ride as everyone around her headed home. There was no heist here tonight. Meaning there was no hope of getting any leads. She’d failed. 

“Woah. Carm, check your 9 o’clock.” Zack’s voice sparked to life inside of her ear. “It might’ve been nothing but I swear I saw a flash of green. Like, the evil VILE green.”

“Worth a look.” She tried to keep it down, but her voice filled with hope. Green meant Tigress or maybe Neal the Eel. Both were people she’d bested before. If she’d done it once, she could absolutely do it again, especially since there was so much on the line. “Which way were they headed?”

The comm crackled again. “Heading west, towards that strange building with a circular entrance.” 

Carmen withheld the urge to roll her eyes. “Of course, the fun house.” It didn’t seem like Tigress’s style to go for something so obscure. Neal the Eel however...there were plenty of places to slip away inside of there. But then again, _why_? There couldn’t have been anything worth very much in a place that was so prone to damage. 

That’s when it dawned on her. “It’s a trap. It has to be.” They must’ve seen her patrolling and decided to try and take her out. If that was the case, the Eel made the least sense of an operative to send in. His approach to thievery was more, well, slick. He was about stealth: getting in and getting out easily without anyone being able to stop him. Given his stature and inexperience in general with combat, it made no sense to send him into a situation that would most likely end with a physical fight. Maybe it _was_ Tigress after all. She made much more sense to send in considering her untamed aggression and willingness to get her hands dirty. 

“If it’s a trap, why are you still walking towards it…?” Zack asked, genuinely confused.

Honestly, she didn’t know. The smart thing would’ve been to wait for backup. “Call Ivy and Shadowsan. I’m going in.” If there were any operative in there with potential information about Player, Carmen knew she’d be able to take them. Besides, every moment she wasted now was a moment they had to plan and set up for her. It was best to try and catch them off guard. 

“Carm, I’m not sure that’s the best idea. I mean we-” Zack tried to reason with her, but Carmen was far past listening to reason that went against her gut feeling at the moment. 

“No time for second guessing, Zack. If they’ve got information, I’m going to get it. One way or another.” What implications that held, even Carmen wasn’t sure. All she knew was that she meant every syllable of it.

Zack sighed loudly in her ear. “Is this how Player feels whenever you go rogue? It’s not a good look.”

Carmen decided not to answer as she approached the opening of the oversized fun house. Thankfully, everything was turned off for the night. Too many moving parts would’ve made her job much more difficult. Truth be told, Carmen had never actually been _inside_ one of these things, so she wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. She’d watched movies, though, and knew it was important to keep her guard up. 

Her boots clacked quietly against the metal floor as she gingerly made her way through the circular doorway. She’d seen it slowly spinning during the day and had watched multiple toddlers toddle right over at this very obstacle. Thankfully for her, she had a bit more coordination than them and the display was currently turned off. The next portion was a flat hallway that ended in a staircase. There were two long panels on the floor, each textured and painted a bright yellow hazard color. From the looks of it, they moved and back and forth when the machine was full of life. As it was, they remained motionless, though still uneven. “So far so good,” she whispered under her breath, barely loud enough for Zack to hear. 

“Be careful, Carm. Shadowsan and Ivy are on their way as we speak.” He responded, the typical energy having drained out his voice at this uncalculated risk she was taking. 

“When am I not careful?” She whispered back, allowing herself to smirk. “I’ll be able to take care of whatever clown is hiding in here, no problem.”

She shouldn’t have spoken so soon. 

The second the last word left her lips, the entire mechanism whirred to life. Obnoxious carnival music began blaring throughout the building, causing Carmen to instinctively wince and cover her ears slightly. A thunderous _bang_ echoed behind her right after the music started. She whipped around to see the entrance was now sealed off by a thick, metal door that seemed to have appeared from nowhere. The floor in front of her began clacking up and down more viciously than any ‘fun ride’ should have been. Had she been trying to cross it at the time, she surely would’ve fallen. It was quickly becoming all too apparent that this entire thing had been altered by VILE. 

Not only was this a trap, but it was a custom trap. The evil enterprise must’ve intercepted the fun house, made their own alterations, and then sent it on to be with the carnival. During the day, it probably operated normally. But in the evening, while they were waiting for their prey? It became a death machine. And Carmen had just willingly walked right into it. 

“Ah, ah, ah.” A voice spoke suddenly. A ball (much too similar to the shape and size of Red Drone for comfort) bounced down the steps at the end of the narrow hallway with control. It came to an unnatural halt and lit up a sickening green. A rather solid-looking hologram of the same color projected into the space between them. That alone scared Carmen. Last she knew, VILE didn’t possess the knowledge nor technology to create something as advanced as a hologram. Given the Red Drone-like appearance of the device, it didn’t take a genius to figure out who had probably designed the tool for them. The moving light took the form of the one and only Dr. Bellum, smirking at her old student. “You’re mistaken, Black Sheep. There are no clowns hiding in here tonight. Quite the opposite actually.”

Carmen nearly growled at the sight of the woman. “What do you want?”

Dr. Bellum shrugged. “The same thing I always want: to test my latest invention.” She took Carmen’s silence as an invitation to continue. “You see, I always knew there was something missing from our field operatives. Something...scientific or technological. Tigress’s glasses and the Crackle Rod were a decent start, but I wanted more.” She smiled cruelly, clearly excited about whatever she’d created. “Tonight, I have the pleasure of introducing VILE academy’s most recent graduate. Due to his surprisingly honed skills and incredible intellect, we decided to fast-track him to get him into the field as soon as possible. At only 16 years of age, he is the youngest operative to ever graduate from our academy.”

Had the hologram been more transparent, Carmen would’ve seen his small frame sooner. As it was, it wasn’t until he stepped out from behind Dr. Bellum’s vibrating form that she saw him. Pieced together with the clues the mad scientist had gladly provided her, Carmen instantly knew who she was looking at. Her heart instantly withered within her chest. 

“May I proudly present...Phantom.” Dr. Bellum nearly hummed with approval as she watched Carmen’s fearless facade break apart. “I’ll leave you two to get, well, _re-_ acquainted.” The image flickered and disappeared when the teenager bent down and picked up his projection tool. 

He looked up at her, smirking with an ever-familiar confidence. “So, you’re the famous Carmen Sandiego, huh? Honestly, I was expecting more.” Oh, god. His _voice_. A voice that had soothed her so many times, supported her, cried out for her, laughed with her. It was the sound Carmen had been begging the universe to let her hear again. But not like this. Anything but this. 

He stood back up and clipped the small projector to his belt where a myriad of other gadgets hung. His entire outfit was black and green, the cliche color-scheme of technology. A pair of close-fitting cargo pants ran down his legs into ankle-high black, combat boots. The endless amount of pockets against his legs appeared to be filled with more gadgets and toys: exactly like how Carmen’s coat was designed to hold her many tools. On his upper half, the boy was clearly wearing one of VILE’s all-black stealth suits with thumb holes, leaving only his knuckles and fingers exposed. Over that, he was wearing a baggy, black, short-sleeved jacket, lined with dull green accents. More pockets and zippers alerted Carmen to the possibility of even more gadgets hidden there. _Just how many did he have?_ Over his eyes sat a pair of green transparent goggles. Given how tech-savvy he was, Carmen was sure the eye ware was for more than just decoration. A thick pair of headphones sat over his ears, partially covering the endless messiness of his hair. 

That was something that hadn’t changed: his tousled hair giving off the vague vibe that he’d just rolled out of bed. Everything else, though…? It was like looking at a stranger. 

“What, already frightened into speechlessness? You haven’t even seen the best part yet.” He pushed himself to his full height, which was far too small to be intimidating. Under normal circumstances, Carmen would’ve laughed (but nothing about this was normal). By some miracle, she managed to speak. Her voice was already pleading, grasping for any straw she could grab that this _wasn’t_ him. She spoke what she knew to be his name, hoping it could shock him into being the person he was supposed to be. 

“Player…?”

The boy in front of her just scoffed. “Not sure who you got your intel from, but you couldn’t be more wrong. As Dr. Bellum said, you can call me Phantom.” His smile was cruel and calculating: a look that belonged anywhere other than on Player’s young face. “Now, you wanna do this the easy way or the hard way? Unfortunately for you, I’ve got the home field advantage. So why don’t you make the smart choice and just come quietly?”

For the first time in her life, the mere sight of an opponent caused tears to come to her eyes. This...this was cruel. Not only had they stolen an innocent teenager from his home, but they must’ve manipulated his memories, exploited his skills, pushed him through rigorous training and changed his entire identity. Now, Carmen was faced with having to fight her best and oldest friend. Someone she’d vowed to protect no matter what.

Phant- no, _Player_ (she refused to accept him like this) just laughed. An unnatural cackling filled the small area, bouncing off the metallic walls and trapping Carmen in it’s sound. “They warned me you might react like this, told me I would probably remind you a lot of your little brother. But I never thought the mere sight of me would make the all-powerful Carmen Sandiego cry. The first thing the faculty taught me was that personal connections make one weak. I just never realized how right they were. Until now.” He chuckled again. “Oh man, this is going to be _way_ easier than I thought.” 

“No.” Carmen spoke back to him with vigor and determination. That was always VILE’s downfall- they underestimated how powerful she could be when she operated with emotion. Multiple times, she’d been told she cared too much. Carmen disagreed. She cared just the right amount and it pumped strength through her veins. They’d crossed a line this time; they’d gone way too far and they would pay _dearly_. Before that, Carmen needed to drag Player back to the good side. She couldn’t leave him like this. 

He cocked his head amusedly at her angry retort. “I’m sorry?”

She peered back up at him from under the brim of her hat, eyes fierce and ruthless. “I said _no_.” Her feet moved almost before she’d finished speaking, running full force at the person in front of her. His hubris immediately became his downfall as Carmen swept his legs out from underneath him. The sound of Player hitting the ground was like a hammer striking Carmen’s heart. Never in a million years had she wanted to fight her best friend, but at the moment, it was the best chance of getting him back to their HQ. Maybe there, they could figure out a way to re-wire his brain. “Surrender now. Please don’t make me hurt you.”

He only flashed a smile in response. In one swift movement, he placed his palms flat against the ground and threw his legs upwards and outwards. The maneuver not only got him standing again, but also served as an attack. His feet connected solidly with Carmen’s midsection and sent her reeling back into the wall behind her. “I’ll have you know I’m much more than just a pretty face. Catch me if you can.” He winked at her before retreating back up the stairs he’d come down.

It took Carmen only a few moments to catch her breath which she was mildly ashamed of. With Player’s ridiculous intelligence level, she knew he was going to be a difficult opponent. She hadn’t expected him to also have the ability to physically fight as well. _Exactly what kind of training did the academy put him through in just four months?_ Given the time frame and his obvious strength in technology, he was probably better versed in the art of defensive tactics rather than offensive. Carmen would have to figure out how to work against that without seriously harming him. That being said...she was also assuming he currently had complete control of the entire fun house. That was also something she was going to have to take away from him. 

Putting her finger to her earring, Carmen tested her earpiece. Nothing. She should’ve guessed he’d disabled communication. For now, she was going to have to play along with his game. Slowly, she worked her way towards the base of the stairs. “So that’s how you wanna play it, huh?” she murmured quietly under her breath. Eyes raising upwards and searching for any attack from above, Carmen began to climb after him. Unfortunately, she didn’t expect an attack from below. The stairs beneath her shifted suddenly, causing her to violently fall forward and smash her head into the narrow steps. Player’s laughter echoed again at her fumble. Quickly getting back to her feet, she hesitantly tried again, this time holding tighter to the railing beside her. The stairs continued to jerk and vibrate, but she was a master thief and couldn't be slowed by uneven ground. Quickly enough, she made her way up and found herself on the open-aired second level. 

The sight that met her eyes wasn’t what she would call reassuring. The path itself was straight but that’s where Carmen’s confidences ended. Nearly the entire floor was made of different surfaces, some that spun, some that jerked, twisted, or dropped. She took notice of the hidden panels all along the walls and ceiling, most likely hiding other traps or weapons. Unlike the first floor, the second wasn’t an enclosed space. A sturdy metal railing to her left was the only thing that stood between them and a decent fall to the ground. From here, Carmen could see most of the rest of the fairgrounds. After a quick sweep with her eyes, she saw no one around. _Good. No one else can get hurt._

Player stood proudly straight across from her atop an odd panel in the otherwise silver, metal floor. Behind him was a large, dark opening: most likely a large slide to take typical carnival-goers safely back down to the ground. Player’s wrist was raised flat near his chest, as if he were checking his watch. There appeared to be some sort of small control panel glowing there, most likely the remote he was using to activate everything. Carmen determined that to be her first target. If she could take away his control of the fun house, she’d be able to...subdue him. It wasn’t ideal, but it was at least a plan. 

“Welcome to the Death floor. “ The despicable smile was still plastered to Player’s face as he quipped at her. “Wanna guess why it’s called that?” 

Carmen forced herself to smirk back, though it clearly lacked confidence. “Because it’s where Dr. Bellum’s ideas go to die?” She sprinted forward, not giving her opponent anymore time to set up his trap. She easily ran across the first portion of the floor, catching Player off guard. He quickly activated the second section, a trap door that fell a far way back to the first floor. Carmen jumped over it easily. She kept her eyes glued on her surroundings and heard the obvious ticking of another mechanism being triggered. She managed to roll out the way just in time to miss a large swinging pendulum that appeared out of the wall. “That all you got?” She breathlessly taunted as she regained her balance, crouched low to the ground. 

“You wish.” His fingers flew across his control panel with speed Carmen had never witnessed before. Sure, she’d heard him typing furiously over the coms plenty of times. Actually _seeing_ it was something entirely different, especially as he operated it with one hand. Carmen found herself grateful to have had him on her team all these years. Surely no other kid his age could even imagine accomplishing the things Player had. It was just another reason to steal him back.

Carmen forced her thoughts back to the present a little too late. Even if she hadn’t made the mistake of hesitating and marveling at her best friend’s talent, his next trick still would’ve caught her off guard. The obnoxious carnival music blasting through the fun house suddenly turned to a high-pitch electronic shrieking sound. Carmen winced and grabbed her ears, the volume and unbearable tone making it nearly impossible to think. Through her squinted eyes she saw Player standing completely unaffected. _His headphones_. Those would probably have to go, too. 

Before giving her the chance to adapt the sound, he pushed some more buttons and the ground beneath her suddenly jolted. Left became right and right became left. The circular platform she stood on spun at a horribly fast speed, throwing Carmen’s body into the nearby wall face first. The second blow to her head within just a few minutes mixed painfully with the electronic screeching and quickly turned her mild headache into a flashing migraine. 

“Didn’t anyone ever teach you to protect the face?” Player’s voice was meshing with the noise erupting from the speakers, molding his familiar sound into something foreign. The good thing was that she’d been thrown further down the path, one step closer to her opponent. Carmen pulled herself to her feet, checking the floor beneath her to ensure it was stable. Player was only a few feet away from her, still slightly hunched over his wrist, shaking his head in disappointment. “Come on! I was promised a challenge!” He had to yell loudly over the speakers, his voice barely reaching Carmen’s ears and doing no favors to her head pain. 

The red head audibly sneered, staring down her friend. “What would know about challenges? You’re barely old enough to be out of diapers, much less play with the big kids!” Despite Player usually being one of the most level headed people she knew, Carmen was hoping she could still anger him to the point of making a mistake by using mockery. Her partner in crime had always groaned with irritation when someone referred to either his age or small frame. Hopefully, that hadn’t changed when VILE messed with his mind. If anything, his reaction should’ve been more explosive. Clearly, they’d altered his unending compassion. If they’d taken something away, they had to have replaced it with something. Carmen was hoping for anger, something Player didn’t have much experience controlling. 

As it turned out, she was right. The kid sneered and aggressively began pushing more buttons on his wrist. He once again triggered something in the wall, given the brief creaking sound Carmen heard behind her. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to move fast enough and a large, foam-covered arm burst from the wall she’d been leaning on. Carmen was harshly knocked the opposite direction and slammed into the railing overlooking the fairgrounds. It bent slightly under her weight, but Carmen didn’t have time to factor in the risk of fighting near an edge. Recovering faster than she should’ve been able to, she pushed herself forward. She jumped over the remaining obstacles and moved directly towards the teenager standing at the end of the pathway. With her arms extended, Carmen reached out for his wrist, trying to grab the remote he had attached there. 

The kid anticipated her movements and typed something else into his tiny tablet. The black platform he stood on rose suddenly, pushing him to be about three feet higher off the ground. As soon as Carmen was close enough, he whipped around and kicked her harshly in the shoulder with a roundhouse. The force once again knocked her into the railing, but this time snapped completely. Carmen didn’t have the time to acknowledge the new pain in both shoulders before her momentum took her over the edge. Her instincts alone were enough to make her reach out, catching the edge and barely stopping her from plummeting to the worn grass beneath her. 

Player laughed again, the sound nearly creeping towards maniacal at this point. He finally turned off the terrible electrical screaming and took a few steps towards her. “You’re pathetic! They couldn’t have made this easier for me if they’d tried!” He looked down on her incredulously. “I can’t believe someone like you has caused so much trouble for VILE. It’s embarrassing, really.”

In the moments it took her to fully gain her bearings, Carmen noticed three things. (1) Three humanoid shapes were quickly moving across the fairgrounds towards her. Good. Reinforcements were close. (2) Player’s remote wasn’t actually a remote at all. Instead, it appeared to be nothing but a blank screen with a small keyboard at the bottom. She had been wrong. Player wasn’t pushing buttons to activate traps, he was _typing in commands_ as she’d tried to advance on him. It was as impressive as it was terrifying. (3) The pain rippling through her body was going to make it even more difficult to fight. His kick hadn’t been strong enough to dislocate her shoulder, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to have a bruise. Even now it ached with pain as it supported her entire weight. Her abdomen was certainly going to feel rough tomorrow and her ribs were already protesting each breath she took. She needed to pull herself back up to the floor. Hanging here, she was much too vulnerable. 

But maybe...maybe that was just what she needed. 

It was obvious her previous tactics weren’t working. Being in control of the entire house was putting Player at far too high of an advantage. Carmen needed to find her own advantage, _fast._ She had an idea but...it was a risk. With no time to second guess, she attempted to appeal to whatever empathetic side of her friend still remained. 

Carmen gasped and struggled loudly. She made a huge deal of almost slipping even though her grip was tight enough to last a minute or two more. Carmen amped up the drama and made it seem like she was truly suffering from immense pain. Having enough experience with pain, it was easy to make it seem real (it kinda _was_ real). Her eyes filled with agony and she looked up at Player, seemingly helpless. “Please...help me, Player. You’re my best friend. I know you’d never hurt me.” She shivered slightly and weakly reached a hand up towards him, making her act all the more believable. 

At first, he just stared at her, but didn’t attack. As she continued shivering and pleading, his face began to fall. He took a step back, looking around suddenly as if something were horribly wrong. Before giving him the chance to regain his bearings, Carmen found a small foot hole and used the leverage to launch herself at him. Their bodies collided, knocking them both to the metal flooring before Player had a chance to realize what hit him. Carmen immediately sat up and ripped the control panel from his wrist. She threw it on the ground, shattering it into a million fragments. Within seconds, Player’s expression snapped back to aggressiveness. He quickly got to his feet, holding his hands in front of him defensively. “You’re gonna pay for that!” Trying her best to ignore the brief expression of pain on his face, Carmen moved to strike him again, aiming for a pressure point on his neck to knock him out as peacefully as possible.

Player easily blocked the attack with his forearm, using Carmen’s momentum to flip her over his shoulder instead. He then used her moment of hesitation to pull something new out of his pocket, throwing it at her recklessly. Carmen easily dodged it, briefly watching it extend into a net and tangling itself around a nearby pillar. Before she knew it, more were flying towards her, but none of them were perfect shots. She dodged and weaved, taking steps backwards towards the opening of the slide. Maybe she could use it to her advantage somehow. 

“Ugh! Stand still!” Player reached into another pocket now and pulled out a bulky metal bracelet that looked like a massive bolt. He threw it towards her, but it, too, missed terribly and landed on the metal paneling right next to the entrance of the slide. Strangely, though, it stuck to the metal like a magnet to a fridge. 

“Ha, you missed!” Carmen retorted back, attempting to appeal to his anger again. Player smirked irritatedly and slid past her on his knees, attaching another bracelet to her wrist before she had time to react. 

“Did I?” He clicked a button on the side of his goggles and Carmen’s wrist was violently pulled backwards. The bracelet on her wrist collided with the one on the wall, an incredibly strong magnet keeping them connected. Player stood up to face her, panting slightly. His face read annoyance and confidence, but his eyes said something else. Unfortunately, whatever doubts he might’ve been feeling weren’t enough to make him free her. She needed to hit his emotions harder. She needed to make him remember. “You’ve done enough damage.” He spoke clearly, probably making sure whoever was listening in on his comms could hear him. “Now goodnight, Miss Sandiego.”

Player’s hand hovered over a different button on his goggles, smiling evilly as he did so. With only seconds to react, Carmen attempted to use her free hand to rip off his goggles. Right when he triggered whatever weapon he had, their skin made contact as she missed the goggles and gripped his neck instead. Instantly, a powerful electric shock traveled out of her handcuffs and through her body. 

Not one, but two different screams of pain echoed through the night. 

For a few moments, there was absolutely nothing. Slowly, Carmen recognized the feeling of her body crumpled on the ground. Her muscles ached the same way they did whenever the cleaners had given her a good electric shock. Remembering the situation, Carmen forced her eyes open to take in her surroundings. The fun house around her was still blaring music and lights, but everything seemed slightly muted. She heard someone far, far away yelling her name but couldn’t exactly place where it was coming from. Beside her, she noticed another motionless dark form. 

_Player_. Oh god, what had she done? By touching his skin with hers, she’d completed the electric circuit, bringing them both down. The shock shouldn’t have knocked her out for more than a minute or two. She had experience with these sorts of things, after all. But Player? His pain tolerance was almost definitely much lower than hers and she wouldn’t be surprised if something like that would level him for at least a few minutes more.

She pushed herself towards his limp form, ignoring the protests of her burning muscles. Thankfully, the electric jolt must’ve fried the handcuffs, as the magnetic pull no longer dictated where she could go. Carmen scooted closer to her friend, trying to gently pull him into her lap. “Player...Player!” Right as she shook his shoulders, his eyes snapped open. He pushed her off him with more force than he should’ve been able to muster. 

Carmen fell backwards, immediately raising her guard again. Player somehow pulled himself to his feet, though he appeared far less than steady. Sparks flew from inside his jacket and out of his pockets. Whatever she’d done must’ve fried more than a few of his gadgets. He winced as he pulled a small, sparking communicator out of his ear and threw it to the ground. His other hand held his head as he swayed back and forth, trying to keep his eyes on her. “Suh...smart move there, ‘diego.” 

She followed suit and rose to her full height, though she was much more stable than he appeared to be. A concerned smile split across her lips. “Thanks. A friend once told me the best possible skill was quick thinking.” Carmen made weak eye contact, trying to force him to remember it was _him_ who’d said those words to her. 

“Smart girl.” He repeated, shaking his head now and appearing to get some semblance of control back. 

“Surprisingly, it wasn’t a girl.” Carmen stood straight now, looking him dead in the eye. “It was you, Player.” Still slightly hunched over, he looked at her quizzically. “You’re my best friend. You have been for years. Whatever VILE did to you...whatever they told you, it’s not true. You and I are a team, Player, we always have been.” There was no need to purposely put sincerity into her words, it just flowed out naturally. She did need Player, if these past four months had proved anything. She needed him in her life, the obnoxious little brother who always had her back. “Please. I need you.” She extended her hand, trying to appear as non-threatening as possible. 

For a split second, he appeared to contemplate her offer. The uneasy look in his eyes grew and for a moment, Carmen was convinced she’d gotten through to him. Just as he might’ve reached for her hand however, a series of loud _thumps_ echoed from behind her. Carmen whipped around to see Shadowsan backed by two redheads, both breathing heavily. They must’ve climbed up the side of the fun house to reach her up here. “Carm!” Ivy called out first, pushing her way to the front. As soon as she saw the small form behind her boss, her face exploded with happiness. “You found Player!” Zack’s face also lit up as he heard his sister. Even Shadownsan’s eyes brightened slightly. 

“No, wait-” Carmen held her hands out, acting as a mediator between the two groups. Unfortunately, she wasn’t fast enough. Zack immediately moved in for a hug, causing Player to revert back to his defensive habits. The hacker easily swept the older boy’s legs, knocking Zack down in an instant. Then he reached into another pocket of his coat and pulled out a few colored pellets. 

He briefly scanned the newcomers before turning a hurtful stare back at Carmen. “Y-You’re lying to me. VILE’s the only family I’ve ever known. You? You don’t know the meaning of family, let alone loyalty. You’re just a traitor. That’s all you’ll ever be.” He looked down at Zack, lying on the floor. “And for the last time, my name isn’t Player. It’s _Phantom_.” He threw the pellets down, causing a colorful flash bang. Carmen and her partners all covered their eyes, but it still took a moment to recover. When they looked again, Player was nowhere to be found. 

“Wha-what was _that?_ ” Zack loudly questioned, brushing himself off as he found his footing again. 

“No…” Ivy whispered behind her. “Don’t tell me they-”

“They did.” Carmen answered the question before it was asked. She stared down the open-mouthed slide where Player had just been standing. With the majority of his equipment fried, he’d probably used that as an exit. There was still a chance she could catch him. Without uttering another word, she launched herself down the slide, not even trying to be quiet. 

The plastic tunnel let her out into what must’ve been the final portion of the fun house: the mirror maze. She quickly glanced around, catching a flash of black and green in one of the reflections before it disappeared. Carmen knew the electrical shock had hurt Player more than it had hurt her. But then again, she’d also taken more physical damage. Regardless of the chances, she had to do everything in her power to get him back. Relying on her stamina and unwillingness to give up, Carmen did her best to follow after him. 

“Please, Player, listen to me. This isn’t you! You use your skills for good, not evil.” She called out, hoping he would take the bait. “You always have.”

Thankfully, she was right. His image appeared in the multiple glass panes before her as Ivy and Zack landed on the ground behind. “What would you know? You have no idea who I am.” Player’s voice was uneven as he jaggedly inhaled and exhaled. 

“But I _do_ know you, Player-” Carmen approached one of his images slowly, reaching out only to have her hand gently bump into empty glass. His unnatural, broken chuckle filled her ears again, but it was much weaker than before. 

“Stop _calling_ me that. What kind of codename is Player, anyway? So lame.” His reflection vanished, leaving Carmen alone to only look at herself. 

Ivy and Zack came up beside her, one on each side. A final _thump_ from the slide let her know Shadowsan had also come down. With all four of them against their former hacker, they now had the advantage. All Carmen had to do was find him. “It’s _your_ codename, remember? You created it all those years ago when you first introduced yourself to me. Please, remember.” She gestured for her teammates to split up, all branching out to take different routes through the maze. Shadowsan moved quickly to find the exit and keep Player from escaping. 

Only the kid’s breath and faint footsteps could be heard as he wandered through the maze. _Fine_ , Carmen thought to herself, _I can work with sound_. Especially with a compromised visual, following her ears made more sense. She just had to get him to talk again. “I know you better than anyone, Player, and you know me. Your favorite color is purple. Not a light lavender, but a deep, royal purple. Your favorite food is shrimp, but you became allergic to shellfish a few years ago. You eat way too many ramen noodles to ever be healthy, but you do it out of convenience in order to spend more time helping us. Remember?”

“Stop...please, stop.” A faint voice around a nearby corner pleaded. Normally, such a sound would’ve frozen Carmen in her tracks. The helplessness, confusion and pain was clearly starting to overwhelm him. As much as she hated it however, Carmen needed to keep it up. She was getting closer. 

“You grew up in Niagara Falls, Ontario but think the waterfall is overrated. When you were ten years old, your parents took new jobs and began traveling, leaving you alone most of the time. I still don’t think you’ve forgiven them for that. With your free time, you picked up hacking and became amazing with technology: an absolute prodigy. You do anything in your power to help anyone you can. You’re my best friend and you’ve saved me more times than I can count. I need you, Player. We all do. And right now, you need us. Please remember.”

She heard a faint bump followed by a squeak against glass. Small, panicked breaths began to echo quietly through the maze. It was an awful sound, but it was enough to lead her directly to him. Carmen approached Player’s form slowly, hands out in a non-aggressive manner. It’s not like he would’ve seen it anyway. His knees were pulled up to his chest and his hands were gripping his hair, as if he were trying to pull it out. A circle of their reflections surrounded them, encasing them in a maze of their own troubled minds. 

She probably should’ve called out to the others, letting them know she found him. Eventually, she would. Right now, there was still work to be done, work Carmen had to do on her own. “I know you know I’m telling the truth. Please, just come with me and we’ll work everything out. Together.” She slowly offered her hand out again. 

With his body language still tense and defensive, he stared back at her with horror. His voice was small and broken. “What’s...what’s happening? Why do I have all these memories? It-it doesn’t make sense. Nothing’s making sense.” Silent tears streamed down his face, causing Carmen’s heart to break all over again. 

“VILE messed with your head, Player. They’ve done it before to other operatives and they did it to you without a second thought. It’s all my fault, though. I didn’t keep you safe, I didn’t protect you.” Her eyes began watering again until she had rivers flowing down her face, the matching set to her best friend’s. “All of this is my fault and I’m so, so sorry. Please give me the chance to fix it.” She knelt down now, placing a hand on his shoulder. At first he winced, then slowly relaxed into the touch. 

His frame quivered slightly as he finally looked into her eyes. She moved her hands up the side of his face, gently pulling his goggles and headphones off and placing them on the ground. The fact that he let her do so was enough proof that whatever Dr. Bellum had done to him was fixable. Maybe he wouldn’t be normal again, or even remotely similar to the Player they all knew and loved, but that was okay. Carmen would love him however he came, as long as it was truly _him_.

She watched a look of realization dawn over his features as he saw the vulnerability in her eyes. In an instant, his expression snapped from that of a terrified VILE operative to that of a terrified teenager. He looked around, wincing as more memories probably flooded his mind. “Red…? What’s-” he asked weakly as he looked into her face. Suddenly, his eyes widened with another realization. “Oh no. No, no, no. I’m so sorry, Carmen. I’m so-“

Carmen sobbed with relief and held the back of his head. “Hey.” She all but whispered. “It’s okay, there’s nothing to apologize for. It’s good to have you back.” His face broke with more emotion now and he let himself fully fall apart. Carmen immediately pulled her best friend into her arms, stroking his messy hair and whispering reassurances to him. “I’m sorry, Player. I’m so so sorry. This is all my fault.” She rocked them back and forth gently, slowly slipping into ‘shhh’ sounds as he let the emotions of his jarringly mixed memories pour out of him. 

Carmen wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that. At some point Shadowsan, Ivy and Zack found the duo. None of them said anything, just stood back for a while and left them to their embrace. The smart thing would’ve been to get out of this city as soon as possible and sneak back to their HQ. Eventually, that’s exactly what they would do. Slowly but surely, they would piece Player back together and heal all the scars created over the past four months. 

For now though, Carmen simply relished in the feeling of him in her arms. After four agonizing months, he was finally back with her. Safe. Never again would she let Player out of her sight. Never again would she leave his safety to his dismissive parents. Never again would she let VILE take away her family.

Because after all, family was everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahaha, if I had more time and energy, I would've had Phantom actually disappear down the slide and turned this into a multichap, but ain't nobody got time for that (unfortunately). As it is, I hope you enjoyed my little au. I thought it would've been really impactful to have Player be the one VILE tried to transform into their operative and use against Carmen. Oh well, c'est la vie. 
> 
> I'd love to know what y'all thought about this. I listened to "Hide and Seek" by Imogen Heap while writing it, partially because the meme is SPOT ON for an enemies au (haha) and partially because the emotions match this piece pretty well. If anyone is interested in going further with this idea, I'd love to see what you do! Thanks so much for reading!!


	2. "Phantom" Art Sketch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's not another chapter (sorry) but here's what I kinda think Phantom would look like. I'm still super new to this whole art thing and I totally forgot his belt but it's fine. Also, I did include a bit of name symbolism on either side of him. So his 'VILE' name is vibrant and easy to read but his actually identity is heavily smudged and hard to make out. It kinda reflects his memory.
> 
> ANYway, thanks for reading my story! Hope you enjoyed it and my sketch!


End file.
